Muzna Al Siyabi
1. Climactic or Episodic?
•
Doubt a parable is a climatic play that takes place in one main location, the Bronx. The
play consists of 4 characters and consists of a condensed narrative.
2. Spine of the Play?
•
Moral responsibility is one of the cantered themes portrayed in DOUBT a parable as
John Patrick Shanley suggests that moral responsibility is conceived differently by
everyone. For one, Sister Aloysius feels that she is obliged to find out whether
inappropriate relations had happened between the only black student in the school and
Father Flynn. Another theme we notice which makes up the spine of the play is power
and accountability. As the characters exist in time of hierarchal command, it becomes
difficult for moral people like Sister Aloysius to gain authority and it is seen that Shanley
portrays that structures in the Catholic Church allow people like Father Flynn to use this
authority for the benefit of himself without having to take responsibility. As this play
explores the controversial topic of religion, inevitably, there will be rising themes of doubt
and uncertainty whereby people will question their religious fate. Father Flynn makes a
clear statement of trusting their beliefs even when it lacks the evidence to support them.
As the play explores themes of tradition and change, these contradictory ideas are seen
when Sister Aloysius is committed to ensuring the Catholic Church is run in a traditional,
strict, and authoritative manner, whereas Sister James tries to remove these ideas by
encouraging her students to be comfortable and relaxed in her class.
3. Exposition: what do we need to understand going in?
•
Doubt a parable by John Patrick Shanley is set in the fall of 1964. It takes place in the
Bronx, in the fictional St Nicholas Church School. The characters in the play are all of
traditional Catholic beliefs and Father Flynn, is known to be the popular, young and fun
pastor whereas Sister Aloysius is known to be stricter and more authoritative.
4. What is the point of attack?
The point of attack in the play is when Sister Aloysius is faced with a challenging decision of
whether or not she is to address Father Flynn based on her assumptions of the offence in which
she believed he had committed. After she had spoken to Sister James, she was to decide what
to do with her doubts that had risen and come to the conclusion of either taking moral
responsibility to confront Father Flynn or completely ignoring the situation.
5. What is the climax?
•
The climax of Doubt a parable is when Sister Aloysius tells Father Flynn that she had
spoken with a nun at his previous parish to find out that he is a serial offender. She did
this after calling Father Flynn into her office.
6. Denouement (or falling action)—how does it resolve?
•
The play resolves towards the end after Sister Aloysius confronts Father Flynn for the
offence in which she suspected he had committed, furthermore, Father Flynn denies all
the assumptions and continues to threaten Sister Aloysius that he will remove her from
her position at the school. After Sister Aloysius proceeds to tell Father Flynn that she
contacted the institution at which he previously worked at to find out that he had
committed offences before, Father Flynn declares his innocents and continues to plead
with Sister Aloysius. The catholic nun then blackmails Father Flynn to immediately resign
and transfer to another institution or she will proceed to publicly announce what he had
done. Father Flynn immediately calls the bishop asking for a transfer which he later
receives a promotion and moves to another institution.
7. What is this play ABOUT?
•
The play Doubt a parable is about a catholic institution called St Nicholas Church School
whereby a traditional, strict nun, Sister Aloysius, has suspected thoughts of a criminal
offence from another pastor, Father Flynn. After sharing her thoughts with fellow sister,
Sister James, she confronts Father Flynn which results in conflict as he denies any
obligations made by Sister Aloysius. Sister James is portrayed as calm and
understanding alongside Father Flynn who is widely loved and popular amongst the
students. After Sister Aloysius explores her doubts within the school and her fellow
pastors, she blackmails Father Flynn after her discovery of previous convictions and
demands he transfer immediately.
8. What is the playwright’s message?
•
The main message conveyed by the playwriter (John Patrick Shanley) is moral
responsibility. Shanley explores the waters of this central theme throughout as the play is
about a catholic nun, Sister Aloysius suspecting another pastor, Father Flynn, for having
inappropriate relations with an alter noy. Thus, causing a great amount of conflict for
Sister Aloysius as she then must decide how to handle such a situation. The playwriter
carries this theme throughout and focuses strongly on the idea of moral responsibility.
9. What kind of language does Shanley use in the play?
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Although the play is situated in the Bronx which is an area often associated with a strong
marked dialect, Shanley uses vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation that is classed as
acceptable English by American societies educational system and the Roman Catholic
Church.
10. How do the characters speak? What does it reflect about them?
•
The main characters in the play (Sister Aloysius, Father Flynn, and Sister James) use
social dialects as a form of standard English, conveying their responsibilities and roles as
catholic nuns and pastors. Their use of language (formal English) reflects that they are
well educated people who intend on portraying a certain image on their students at St
Nicholas Church School. Mrs Miller’s speech, however, is based on the area in which she
lives, The Bronx. This entails dialect from the social environment of the black working
class which entails that Mrs Muller may not be of a wealthy background and that she may
not be of the same up bringing as the other characters in the play.
Bayan Alismaili
David Britt
Theatre 200
April 7th 2021
Doubt Film Analysis
1. Climactic or Episodic?
DOUBT can be described as a climatic play given that it is heavily vested in the parable with its
base location being the Bronx. With just four characters, the play is relatively condensed.
2. Spine of the Play?
The play’s central theme is moral responsibility whereby a character called John
Patrick Shanley expresses how moral responsibility varies with the viewers or people in the
society. itis also seen through Sister Aloysius who is investigating the possibility that there was
any immoral relationship in school involving Father Flynn and a black student. Additionally, the
movie revolves around the theme of unaccountability and misuse of power. The film shows that
there is a chain of command within the organization that is so rotten that people with good
morals such as Sister Aloysius are not tolerated nor given fair chances despite their good deeds.
On the other hand, Shanley’s leadership allows the characters such as Father Flynn to continue
with their immoral activities without being questioned or held responsible for misusing their
powers. The theme of religion is also prevalent in this film though it is clear that the rot in such
an establishment is the reason why people are reluctant to embrace religion. Based on the
immoral activities being practiced by those in power while ensuring that the moral members do
not get recognition, the congregation tends to question the legitimacy of these religious beliefs.
Whereas Father Flynn proposes that the society adopts the new belief, Sister Aloysius insists that
the church be run under an authoritative and traditional approach.
3. Exposition: what do we need to understand going in?
It is good to understand the overview of this film whereby it is a parable and was done by John
Patrick Shanley in 1964. The setting of this film is the fictional St Nicholas Church School in
the Bronx with prevalent characters being staunch Catholic believers with Father Flynn being the
lead character. He is popular among the students and the society because of his youthful
and humourous behaviors in contrast with Sister Aloysius who is relatively authoritative, stricter,
and conservative.
4. What is the point of attack?
The attack point in this film is evident between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn regarding the
issue of the immoral relationship he had with the black students. It took the intervention of Sister
James for Sister Aloysius to confront Father Flynn regarding the issue with the most ideal
dilemma here is the move for or against this situation.
5. What is the climax?
The film reached its climax when Sister Aloysius faced Father Flynn head-on regarding his
behaviors and offenses and that she had discussed the matter with nuns who were working with
Father Flynn at the previous parish. The report that Sister Aloysius found about Father Flynn
from the nuns was that he was a serial offender.
6. Denouement (or falling action)—how does it resolve?
The falling action is evident as the plays come to an end when Sister Aloysius confronts Father
Flynn regarding his relationship with the black students. Father Flynn denied the allegations and
accusations labeled against him and threatened her with demotion from her current position.
Later on, Father Flynn is blackmailed by nuns from his previous parish into accepting the
accusations which were preceded by his resignation and later being transfer into a new
institution.
7. What is this play ABOUT?
The film’s play storyline covers on the aspects surrounding a St Nicholas Church School which
is a catholic institution that is governed by a strict and traditional nun called Sister Aloysius who
suspected Father Flynn of an immoral relationship with black students. The story moves into the
next phase where Sister James and Sister Aloysius discussed this matter before confronting
Father Flynn who later denied these allegations. Whereas Sister Aloysius portrays strictness and
proper leadership, Sister James is understanding, calm, and composed. Father Flynn later
resigned and was transferred to another institution after the heavy conflict with Sister Aloysius.
8. What is the playwright’s message?
John Patrick Shanley, the playwriter, relays the virtue of moral responsibility which is dominant
across the entire film, and how this element is punishable in upright societies. Sister Aloysius
unearthed the unethical and immoral characteristics of Father Flynn and later pressured him into
resigning from the institution. Whereas the writer tried to paint the dark side of immorality, he
failed to punish it with totality because he opted to transfer Father Flynn rather than taking legal
actions against him.
9. What kind of language does Shanley use in the play?
The prevalent language used in this play is full of vocabularies, grammar, and pronunciations
which are prevalent components when it comes to enhancing English standards. The overall
expectation is that the local dialect of Bronx will affect the language used in the movie but that is
not the case.
10. How do the characters speak? What does it reflect about them?
Father Flynn, Sister James, and Sister Aloysius who are the main characters in this play
employed the use of social dialects which is standard English that can help in playing their roles
as pastors and nuns in this catholic institution. Using formal English also means that they have
an excellent level of education and a total reflection of the school under which they are running.
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